An editorial by two Cochrane contributors on the importance of reducing the carbon footprint of medical conferences appeared in the BMJ's issue of 17 February 2007.

The editorial highlights the growing awareness of airline travel as a significant human contributor to global climate change, and points to professional conferences in general and medical conferences in particular as generators of unnecessary travel. The authors also discuss efforts by large medical conferences, including The Cochrane Collaboration's recent Colloquium and the BMJ's upcoming International Forum, to reduce their carbon footprints through using technology to facilitate remote attendance.

The full text of the BMJ article is available to subscribers only at http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/334/7589/324. An excerpt is available at the web address listed below.

External link to more information: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/334/7589/324.

Contact: The Cochrane Web Team, news@cochrane.org